Archive for February 2013 - Page 6

Tech 21 has expanded their Character VT Series with the VT Bass DI, available in pedal and rackmount versions. Both versions are based on the original VT Bass and VT Bass Deluxe, which are designed to give familiar sounds from the early ’60s up through modern day crunch via the “Character” knob. The VT Bass DI pedal incorporates a Blend...

Whatever the genre, we bassists seem to love harmonics. From Jaco to Dittersdorf, bass music is full of them. When we are introduced to playing harmonics however, the prospect can be a bit tricky. At first, we may be unsure where the harmonics are on the string, or what note will sound when we attempt them. While I can’t possibly...

This isn’t the first time we’ve featured a video by Andres Rotmistrovsky. And it also isn’t the first we’ve shared of his duets with vocalist Angela Watson either. Andres sent us this one, which like the other work we’ve seen by this duo is terrific. This time around, they tackle their version of Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”. We’re...

Miles Davis went through several musical styles through his career, and the late 60’s proved to be an era of drastic change. That’s documented in part in a new box set, Live In Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Volume 2, which compiles performances by his band at the Antibes Jazz Festival in France, “The Newport Jazz Festival in Europe” in...

Aerosmith’s Tom Hamilton has a new signature bass from G&L. Based on their ASAT bass, the Tom Hamilton Signature Model tweaks the design in a few ways including newly designed pickups, woods, and finishes. Core to the new model’s design is a specially wound pair of the company’s MFD pickups that were specced out by G&L’s VP Engineering Paul Gagon...

Bass lessons and how-to’s, new gear still coming from NAMM, and some awesome bass-focused videos. That’s what made up our weekly top 10 for February 3-9, 2013. Thanks as always for reading, commenting and sharing. You’re the best! 1. Fender Introduces Four New American Vintage Basses Fender has expanded its American Vintage series with four new basses including the ’58...

Bassist Jake Bolton responded to our call for videos with his all-bass cover of Herbie Hancock’s tune, “Chameleon”. Turns out, this is the first video Jake has shared. He says tab is available on request. You can reach him on Twitter or Facebook. We’re celebrating a week-long series of videos by No Treble readers. We want to hear from you...

Aguilar has introduced a new set of pickups called the HOT series. The Hot P and Hot J pickups act as direct replacements for 4-string Fender P-Bass and Jazz pickups but feature larger, 16mm magnets and an over-wound design. The result is a hotter output that Aguilar says adds a big and loud tone while retaining the grit and nuance....

Bassist Lino Devic sent this video along to us, and we were mighty impressed with the uniqueness of it. Lino took Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Joe” and made it his own, laying down the bass, keyboards and drum programming and then taking his piccolo bass and adding the lead. Lino’s video kicks off a week-long celebration of videos by No Treble...

Guild has reissued the Starfire Bass along with eight other models as part of their Newark St. Collection. Introduced in the ’60s, the original Starfire Bass was made popular by bands including the Byrds and Jefferson Airplane. The new model sports an extra-thin, semi-hollow body made of laminated mahogany finished in Cherry red and accented with black and ivory purfling....

Todd Matthews first caught our attention with his awesome looping rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” on double bass. Since then, the innovative bassist has refined his style even further to include effects and incredible arrangements to fill out the sound of an entire orchestra. He recently released his debut solo album, Here Come the Pig Mammoths, which has nothing but...

Holy smokes, Adam Ben Ezra keeps delivering the good stuff. He he is performing his latest composition, “Flamenco”. Adam has made the tune available through Candyrat, iTunes and Amazon.